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USA: Polygamy related abuses in Utah

A Call for Action from the Child Protection Project in Colorado and the International Human Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law asking us to urge the U.S authorities to take action against polygamous marriages. Polygamous marriages are practiced on a large scale especially in the State of Utah, but in neighbouring U.S. states as well.

Polygamy is practised in various contexts, including in
Muslim countries and communities, and is experienced differently in different
contexts. However, in the WLUML network experience, such a custom has always
worked against women's interests and is detrimental to women's rights. WLUML
joins the efforts of The Child Protection Project in Colorado and the
International Human Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law, and
request your urgent intervention in this case.The February 8-24 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City will focus international attention on the State of Utah and on
the U.S. itself. This is an important opportunity to bring to light these human
rights violations against women and children and the failure of government to
prevent and respond to the abuses adequately.

In recent months, the Bush Administration has championed the cause of women's human rights in
Afghanistan as it seeks international support for the United States' war against
the Taliban. We ask your urgent support in demanding that U.S. officials
uphold human rights principles at home as well as in other countries.

In
the State of Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and in neighboring states,
women and girls in polygamous families are being subjected to violence, sexual
abuse, incest, child marriage, trafficking, and the coerced marriage of adult
women. Many live in closed religious communities in which they are denied
education and access to information from the outside world. Although
international human rights law and U.S. law prohibit these abuses, state and
federal officials have failed to ensure that these standards are observed in
practice.

Estimates of the number of polygamists in the U.S. range from
30,000 to 100,000. Of these, the majority belong to a religious group
known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which
broke away from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the
"Mormon Church") over the mainstream Church's official ban on polygamy.
Polygamy is prohibited by the Utah State Constitution, but has been prosecuted
only once since 1953, in the 2001 case of Tom Green, a polygamist who
embarrassed state officials through his aggressive promotion of polygamy in the
media at a time when preparations for the Winter Olympics had focused public
attention on Utah.
A PATTERN OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Women and girls who
have fled polygamous families report that religious teachings emphasize their
duty to submit to the authority of their fathers, husbands, and male religious
leaders, and make spiritual salvation contingent on polygamous marriage.
The religious teachings of these polygamous groups and the closed nature of
their communities create conditions in which women and girls are especially
vulnerable to violence, coercion, and abuse.

Polygamy-related abuses
violate basic human rights to: security of person; freedom from torture and
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; freedom from discrimination; and "free
and full" consent to marriage. Reported cases in which girls from
the ages of 13 to 16 have been married to older men point to a pattern of child
marriage and abuse. Utah did not raise its minimum age of marriage to 16
until 1999, and girls as young as 14 can still be married with their parents'
consent. Recent reports indicate that girls from Utah and surrounding
states are being trafficked to Canada for marriage to polygamous men in the
province of British Columbia.

In one well-publicized case in 1998, a
16-year-old girl escaped from the Kingston family clan after being whipped into
unconsciousness by her father for running away from her husband. Her
husband was her uncle and she was his fifteenth wife. Although her father
and uncle were convicted of child abuse, incest and the sexual abuse of a minor,
the state chose not to prosecute for polygamy. The girl's 15-year-old
brother, who had been designated as the next clan leader, fled in September
2001, telling authorities that he feared abuse if he was returned home.
Their 13-year-old sister escaped in November 2001, informing authorities that
she was being prepared for marriage to a 21-year-old man.

Adult women
similarly describe battering, intimidation and sexual abuse within polygamous
families. Young women who have been trained to obey religious teachings
inside these closed communities and denied any other education may see no option
for their future but polygamous marriage. In such coercive environments,
adult women have no real opportunity to exercise the "free and full" consent to
marriage required by international human rights law.

Woman and children
in polygamous families also suffer deprivations of the basic human rights to
education, information and an adequate standard of living. Girls are
frequently removed from the public school system by age 11 or 12.
Access to books, magazines, radio, television and other information from the
outside world is cut off. Although there are several large polygamous
clans with substantial financial assets, women have no independent access to
those resources. Many polygamous families receive significant levels of
public assistance, but still lack adequate health care and
nutrition.

Women and girls who seek to leave polygamous families face
serious legal, economic and psychological obstacles. Because their
marriages are not legal under state law, women are denied the rights and
remedies usually associated with marriage. Without adequate education and
social contacts in the outside world, women and girls lack the support
structures necessary to meet their economic and psychological needs if they
leave. They may also fear spiritual damnation for disobeying religious
teachings. In a number of cases, underage girls who have fled because they
were being prepared for marriage have been returned to their families by law
enforcement officials. The failure of officials to adequately investigate
and prosecute polygamy-related abuses leads women and girls to believe that the
government will not protect their human rights.

The rights violated by
polygamy-related abuses are guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The
Declaration is binding on the U.S. as customary international law and the U.S.
has ratified the Covenant.THE RIGHT TO
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DOES NOT PROTECT THESE PRACTICES

Leaders of polygamous groups and several public officials have
claimed that religious freedom protects the right to practice polygamy. They
argue that government action against polygamy-related abuses amounts to
religious persecution. But religious practices that violate the human
rights of others are not permitted by international law, which explicitly
provides that religious practices can be restricted when necessary to protect
the rights and freedoms of others. The U.S. Constitution similarly denies
protection to religious practices that cause harm to others. The harm
associated with polygamy-related abuses place these practices beyond the scope
of religious freedom under the Constitution, including: the physical and mental
harm caused by violence and abuse; the harmful effects of child marriage on a
girl's health, educational opportunities and psychosocial development; and the
harmful emotional and psychological consequences of isolation within communities
that instill a belief in women's subordination.IMPUNITY: GOVERNMENT FAILURE TO END THE
ABUSES

Officials in Utah, Arizona and
the U.S. Federal Government have allowed those responsible for polygamy-related
abuses to escape justice, with few exceptions. In fact, public
officials have made statements that implicitly or explicitly condone
polygamy-related abuses, by emphasizing that the state should not intrude on the
"lifestyle" of polygamous families. For example, in Colorado City on the
Arizona-Utah border, Police Chief Sam Roundy told a Denver Post reporter that
the practice of polygamy among the city's police was "none of your
business...it's a religion and we have the freedom to do that." When asked
about his department's failure to interview a 16-year-old girl whose mother had
reported she was taken to Canada for marriage to a 39 year old man, he responded
"I didn't feel I had to talk with her.....I'm not going to mess with it.
The state hasn't taken it upon themselves to prosecute. Why should we ?" (Mar.
4, 2001).

Local police and prosecutors continue to defer to the "privacy"
of polygamous groups. Some have also stated that the crimes associated
with polygamy are so numerous that they do not have the resources to
prosecute. Ron Allen, a Utah state senator from the minority Democratic
party, has pointed out that the historical practice of polygamy within the
mainstream Mormon Church makes it difficult for the 75% Mormon population of
Utah to condemn polygamy: "for people in Utah to confront polygamy means they
have to confront practices condoned by their ancestors, including mine." (L.A
Times, Sept. 9, 2001).

Nor has the Federal Government acted to end
impunity for these violations. Efforts by individuals and groups to enlist
the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in
dealing with the pattern of polygamy-related abuses and specific cases
have been unsuccessful. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the U.S.
Government to ensure that these human rights violations against women and
children are brought to an end.

The February 8-24 Winter Olympics in Salt
Lake City will focus international attention on the State of Utah and on the
U.S. itself. This is an important opportunity to bring to light these human
rights violations against women and children and the failure of government at
all levels to prevent and respond to the abuses adequately. We call on the
U.S. to end impunity for human rights violations at home and we ask for your
support.

Source:

Child Protection Project in Colorado and the International Human Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law

Created by:

Child Protection Project in Colorado and the International Human Rights Clinic at the New York University School of Law